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The current DCA Beursprijs 2.0 will be transformed into a DCA Beurs Mutation Price: from now on, we will publish only the weekly price change compared to the previous week. The publication time will also change. From 2026 onwards, the DCA Beurs Mutation Price will be published every Monday at 18:00 CET as a key reference for the slaughter pig market in the current week. This brings an end to the long-standing tradition of Friday price quotations.
This change follows a careful process in which DCA Market Intelligence consulted an advisory committee consisting of ten piglet and pig traders from different regions in the Netherlands.
Key changes at a glance:
- New system: from total price to weekly mutation price
- Publication time: from Friday 20:00 CET (preceding week) to Monday 18:00 CET (current week)
- New name: DCA Beurs Mutation Price (per kg carcass weight)
- Better alignment with Dutch slaughterhouse quotations (mostly on Wednesday)
- Benchmark price of live pigs will be discontinued in the new set-up
- All other specifications remain unchanged
Why a new system?
With the new system, DCA Market Intelligence wants the DCA Beurs Mutation Price to function optimally as an expectation price for the Dutch pig market. By letting go of the base price level, DCA will quote a new, stand-alone price mutation every week. This increases the accuracy of the quotation and aligns better with trading practice, price negotiations and risk management.
From now on, DCA will publish only the week-on-week change, resulting in a benchmark that:
- Clearly shows the expected weekly market trend
- Is easy to interpret for all market participants
- Is better suited as an objective indicator for market developments, price formation and contract arrangements
Publication on Monday: closer to the market
From 2026 onwards, the DCA Beurs Mutation Price will no longer be published on Friday evening in the week prior to the quotation week, but every Monday at 18:00 CET in the current week. This brings the mutation price much closer to the Dutch slaughterhouse prices, which are usually set on Wednesday afternoon. Market participants will thus have an up-to-date and easily comparable price reference available at the start of each trading week.
Effective date and practical details
The first publication of the DCA Beurs Mutation Price will take place on Monday 5 January 2026 at 18:00 CET, simultaneously with the DCA BestPigletPrice.
Important practical points:
- The mutation will be shown, in line with market practice, in eurocents per kg carcass weight.
- To maximise market adoption, the DCA Beursprijs 2.0 (carcass and live) will continue to run in the background for four weeks in January 2026; from 2 February 2026, DCA Market Intelligence will only publish the DCA Beurs Mutation Price (carcass).
- All other specifications and principles of the benchmark remain unchanged.
DCA Market Intelligence has not taken this decision lightly, emphasises Eric de Lijster, as Head of PRA ultimately responsible for all benchmark prices compiled by the company. “For decades, the Dutch varkensbeurs and the Friday evening pig price have served as a fixed benchmark and expectation price for the Dutch pig market. You could call this a historic moment for Dutch pig farming. At the same time, the pig market is changing rapidly, both in the Netherlands and internationally. With the DCA Beurs Mutation Price we are responding to this dynamic and offering market participants even more relevant and up-to-date price transparency that better matches their needs.”
December 17, 2025 - DCA Market Intelligence.
